1. Field
The present disclosure is directed to a portable, hand-held, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, provided with an input device to allow a user to grip and operate the apparatus with one hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses direct ultrasonic signals from a body surface of an object to a desired region inside a human body, and obtain an image related to a mono layer of a soft tissue or a blood stream using the ultrasonic signals reflected from the object, i.e. information of the ultrasonic echo signals in a non-invasive manner. Such ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses have a smaller size, lower price, functionality of real-time display and higher safety by elimination of X-ray exposure, as compared to other imaging diagnostic apparatuses, such as X-ray diagnostic systems, Computerized Tomography (CT) scanners, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment, nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatuses, and the like. Accordingly, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses have been widely used for cardiac, abdominal, urinary and gynecologic diagnosis.
Most ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses are bulky and heavy and thus, have been fixedly installed at particular locations. Even in the case of small ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses, they typically have a weight of 10 kg or more and thus, are not easy to move and are not portable. However, emergency rooms, operating rooms and other optional places for ultrasonic diagnosis may need small ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses that are easily movable. For this reason, portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses have been developed to overcome disadvantages of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses as described above.
Although use of such a portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is increasing because it advantageously has a minimized size or weight and is easily carried, placing the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus at a fixed position may be essential to allow a user to operate the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus with one hand because the other hand of the user may be required to grip an ultrasonic probe so as to scan an object. To this end, a platform, cart or the like, on which the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is placed, may be additionally provided, and the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus does not allow the user to grip and operate the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus with one hand.